


One Mistake

by Luna_Moon22



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Getting Together, Kidnapping, Look I love angst and someone gave me a sengen idea so here we are, M/M, Pain, Serious Injuries, This is a total angst fest, Torture, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-18 19:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20318146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Moon22/pseuds/Luna_Moon22
Summary: It only takes one mistake for things to head south faster than anyone can process.





	One Mistake

It only takes one mistake.

One momentary lapse in judgement, one accidental shift in focus, _one too few eyes looking where they should_, for everything to head south faster than they can even process.

One too many sets of eyes focused on the main opponent, the biggest obstacle, the main foe. No one notices the smaller, leaner, lighter, quieter woman slipping past their ranks.

One man notices.

But, by the time he does, it’s too late.

“NO ONE MOVE!” The woman, Homura, shouts. She has one arm tight around Senkuu’s torso, pinning his arms to his sides, and one hand holding a stone knife to his neck. Tight. Pressing the blade right into his skin. Senkuu feels himself swallow. Perhaps it’s out of nerves. The tight feeling of someone cutting off his air, _trying _to cut off his air, is way too familiar for him not to feel his hands starting to shake.

No one is close enough to make a move. Not before she could draw the knife across his neck and bring him to the ground right there. No one dares to even try. Not when their leader’s life hangs in the balance.

  
Senkuu curses himself for being careless enough to lose sight of the woman in the first place. His eyes dart between all those frozen, weapons trembling in their hands. Kohaku especially, her eyes are hard with anger and her fingers and shaking against the hilt of her sword. Even Hyouga, the looming behemoth of a man, stays frozen in place. Not even Magma dares to open his mouth.

Without moving the knife even an inch, Homura’s other hand moves. Her hand first grips his right wrist, then his left. She twists his arms behind his back in what is meant to either be painful or more restrictive. Senkuu would say that it accomplishes the second purpose more than the first. But he can’t really focus on that, at the moment. Instead his mind races, eyes darting between Kohaku, Gen, Chrome, Suika, Kinrou. Trying to think of a plan. Trying to find a way out that doesn’t end with at least one person (most likely himself) dead on the ground.

“Move.” Homura hisses into his ear, pushing him forward with a motion harsh enough to have him tripping over his own feet. He can feel her adjusting the knife against his neck as he stumbles forward. He can practically _feel_ Kohaku _seething._ But she keeps her anger in check. She doesn’t attack. He has to take a second to be grateful that his friends are at least logical enough not to lash out impulsively.

He manages to get back to his feet. He can see Hyouga motioning for the others to move out of the way as Homura pushes him onto the bridge. No one says a word. No one makes a move. Kohaku looks as though she’s about to blow a blood vessel, but she’s restrained enough that none of the enemies make a move either.

As soon as they’re close enough, Homura shoves Senkuu forward. Her knife stays trained on him, even as he falls right into Hyouga’s open arms. The tall, looming man doesn’t waste a moment in closing his hands around Senkuu’s neck.

He squeezes, not enough to cut his air off, but Senkuu’s face is angled right up. And he knows that the position of Hyouga’s hands is nothing less than an explicit threat.

_If you fight back, if any of your friends follow, this is what will happen._

He suppresses the urge, deep in the pit of his stomach, to lift his hands. He suppresses the urge to claw at Hyouga’s hands until he lets go. All he can do is stand there, eyes staring straight into Hyouga’s, and try to suppress the violent shaking he can feel in his limbs.

“Homura-kun.” Hyouga’s hands don’t leave Senkuu’s throat, but his eyes break their stare. The loss of eye-contact almost feels as though Hyouga’s grip has lessened, even though Senkuu knows it hasn’t.

This time, he can hear Homura making her way over. He can feel her grabbing his wrists, tying them together, pulling the rope around his arms until his entire torso is fastened in place. There’s enough of a chord left for Homura to stand by Hyouga’s side with it in her hand, and Senkuu has their whole plan figured out right there. Not that’s it’s anything complicated.

“Now,” Hyouga’s eyes are back in his own, and Senkuu’s hands are shaking furiously once again. “Senkuu-kun, you know exactly what will happen if you try to run once I let go of you, yes?”

He can tell that Hyouga is smiling under that hideous mask. A smirk comes over his face, but he’s sure it’s only a reflex to cover what would otherwise be nothing but nerves.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I get the jist.”

  
“Wonderful. Then,” Hyouga looks up again. “I’m certain your friends also know exactly what will happen should they attempt to follow or rescue you?”

After a moment, a moment where Senkuu is sure that those of the Kingdom of Science have no idea what to do, Kohaku is the one to speak up.

“Yes, we understand.”

And Senkuu can _hear_ the seething rage in her voice. He can hear Kohaku’s entire willpower being used to keep her from lunging right for Hyouga’s neck.

“Splendid.” Hyouga’s eyes return to Senkuu. “Don’t disappoint me. Okay, Senkuu-kun?”

“Right, right.”

Another moment passes. He can feel the grip tighten, just for a moment, before Hyouga removes his hands from Senkuu’s neck and it takes everything he has not to fall right to his knees gasping for air.

Hyouga looks up, over Senkuu’s head, back at the other members of Senkuu’s Kingdom of Science.

“How about all of you return to your village for the night, hm? Unfortunately, we have to go.”

No one moves.

No one except Senkuu, who doesn’t even move far.

He simply turns his head, looks over his shoulder. Crimson eyes meet Kohaku’s blue, and he nods. It’s a subtle gesture, small, easy to understand. He’s sure that Hyouga noticed it, and he’s sure that Hyouga is waiting to see what the others will do with it.

Another moment passes.

“Everyone,” Kohaku takes a deep breath. “Fall back. Return to the village.”

Senkuu breathes a sigh of relief, and his eyes return to Hyouga.

“Well?” His eyes dart around, landing on each and every one of the men that stand behind his captor. All of them sneering, jeering, grinning, laughing, except one.

Gen Asagiri hangs back, as far behind the rest of Hyouga’s gang as he can get. Senkuu is careful not to be obvious when he stares at Gen. He’s careful to only look at him out of the corner of his eye. He’s careful to ensure that he doesn’t give Gen away with a simple look. It’s bad enough that he’s gotten himself into this mess, he doesn’t need to drag Gen down with him.

“Well what, Senkuu-kun?” He can just about hear the underlying laughter in Hyouga’s voice. He doesn’t know if he’s ever hated someone so much after such a short amount of time, but he certainly feels hatred bubbling in his blood as he stares the man down.

“Well, are we just going to stand here all night, or are you going to drag me back to Tsukasa?” He cocks his head to the side with a smirk.

Gen Asagiri is most definitely not smirking.

Much too much of Senkuu’s mind, at the moment, is centered on Gen Asagiri. On the look of absolute uncertainty in his eyes. On the way he looks as though he’s about to throw up. On the way his hands are hidden in his sleeves. Senkuu wants to wipe that look right out of his eyes, he really does, more than anything.

But he can’t.

_Focus._

“Ah, of course.” Hyouga steps back and moves to turn around. “Homura-kun, I trust that you can manage our honored guest on the way back, yes?”

“Of course, Hyouga-sama.” The woman bows her head with a completely blank expression, the only thing Senkuu thinks he’ll ever see on her face. He doesn’t bother saying anything. He knows that she won’t be won over with platitudes, the only thing he can really offer to someone who isn’t fascinated by his science.

As Hyouga walks into the forest, Gen turns to follow. He’s the first of the group to do so, and Homura isn’t far behind. She pulls Senkuu along. She doesn’t move too quickly, nor does she drag him with violent force. She simply guides him behind her while the rest of them continue to jeer and laugh and smirk. They’re making fun of him, he’s sure. He really should know for sure, but he can’t really be bothered to pay attention to them.

His eyes are wholly focused on the three in front of him.

His eyes focus on Gen.

_______________________________________________

They stop for the night after not too long.

Most of the group drops right to the ground and falls asleep as soon as Hyouga gives them permission. Senkuu isn’t surprised. Most of the group seems dumber than even Taiju ever was. Only these oafs don’t have the same boundless kindness and happy-go-lucky attitude that makes Taiju so lovable.

Senkuu himself knows for a fact that he won’t be sleeping tonight. Even as Homura moves to untie the rope around his torso, instead opting to just keep his wrists together and tie the other end around a nearby tree with a trunk thin enough to accommodate the length of the rope, Senkuu knows that his mind won’t stop racing. Even as she lies him down with her own hands and tells him to rest because he’ll ‘need it.’ He knows that he won’t be sleeping tonight.

But he closes his eyes anyway.

Angering those who currently hold his very life in their hands is something that he knows is the exact opposite of a good idea.

With eyes closed and ear to the ground, Senkuu can hear Homura’s steps loud and clear as she walks away. Likely to take her own rest at Hyouga’s side.

The forest is quiet.

His hands, tied together and rendered near-immobile, keep trying to find his neck. He can still, somewhere, feel the tight pressure of Hyouga’s hands closing in. He can hear, somewhere in the distance, the snapping of his own neck when those fingers tense around his spine.

He wishes he had been paying better attention.

He hears footsteps again.

They’re different, this time. Lighter. No distinct weight to them. As if the person walking is careful not to put too much of their weight on either of their feet, even as they walk forward. It’s a familiar pattern of walking. Something that has his back relaxing and his fingers inching away from his neck.

“Senkuu-chan.”

“Gen.”

Both of their voices are quiet. Barely above a whisper.

  
“Are you hurt?” Is the first thing that Gen says. “I convinced Hyouga-chan to let me watch you for the night. Since he was fighting the village’s strongest, he needs his rest~”

“No.” His eyes open and his vision darts to the side. He wants to see the one he’s speaking with. Really, in this situation, right now, there’s nothing he wants more than to talk with Gen like nothing’s wrong. Like everything’s normal. Like they’re just back at the village, planning their next gadget. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” He can’t help the relief that brushes through his body upon hearing that. There’s the sound of shifting, of soft footsteps, and Gen is sitting on the ground in front of him.

He likes this much better.

There’s a soft frown on Gen’s lips, and his eyes, soft and gray and so oddly kind, are focused on the rope around Senkuu’s wrists. 

“It’s quite tight, is it not?”

“Huh?” Senkuu blinks, raising an eyebrow at the odd start to what he’s sure will now end up being an odd conversation. “I’m a prisoner, Gen, they’re not gonna leave me without supervision or restraint.”

“Well, of course.” Gen’s eyebrows wrinkle in what Senkuu thinks might be annoyance. “But do you not think they are too tight? You aren’t strong enough to pull yourself free, even if the knot were weak, and you aren’t being left without supervision.”

“Hmmm.” Senkuu frowns, pulling on the rope around his wrists, if only to test it. Perhaps he’s simply been distracted enough by the building pressure on his neck, pressure that doesn’t even technically exist, to notice the red irritation of the skin on his wrists. “Well, whatever. Homura won’t untie me, even if you tried to convince her that the rope was too tight. They think I’d run off at the first opportunity. Not that they wouldn’t be able to catch me.”

“Well, wouldn’t you?”

He wants to say yes. He really does. He wants the words ‘of course’ to leave his lips right there. But when his mouth opens, all he can see is Hyouga’s eyes, zeroing in on him. All he can hear is his own breathing, quick and violent and loud, and all he can feel is those thick, strong hands pushing in on his neck.

So his lips press closed, and his eyes shift to the ground.

“Senkuu-chan.”

“Hm?”

His eyes shift back to Gen. To the look of nervousness? Sadness? Fear? Somewhere in-between.

“We should run, should we not?”

“Do you think we could get away before they notice?” Senkuu turns his head to stare at Gen straight-on. “Do you think Homura is really asleep? Or Hyouga? If they have a prisoner as important as me, do you think they’d really leave me alone with just you?”

Gen breathes a small sigh. “I suppose you’re right.” The mentalist’s head tilts to the side. “Then should we be relying on Kohaku-chan? Suika-chan?”

“Suika, probably. If anyone can follow without being detected, it’s her.” His eyes dart up in an attempt to look over his shoulder. “But, even then, I wouldn’t rely on it.”

“Hmm. So, what would you do, Senkuu-chan?”

“I’m thinking.” He squeezes his eyes closed. “I had a failsafe last time, but it wasn’t one that could be reused. So, if Hyouga decides he doesn’t have to wait until we get back to Tsukasa to do me in, there’s not much I can do about it.” A frown crosses his lips. “Traveling with a group like this, and accommodating for both of us as people the group can’t leave behind, it should take a few days to get back to Tsukasa. Assuming that they haven’t moved from the Cave of Miracles… The village is near Hakone, and we haven’t walked very far from the village.” His eyes move up to meet Gen’s. “So, best-case scenario, we have about a week? Maybe 5 days?”

“And the farther away from the village we are, the worse our chances.” Gen follows Senkuu’s logic in a way that few others have ever managed to do. “Am I correct?”

“Yeah.” He frowns. “So, really, we have maybe two or three days before we’re past the point of no return. But that, of course, is our best-case scenario still. We might have less time. And if Tsukasa has expanded past the area around the Cave of Miracles and closer to Hakone we have less time…”

“I suppose we got lucky that you were captured before I was discovered.” Gen’s laugh is soft, quiet, and short. It’s forced, bordering on fake, but it still manages to lift Senkuu’s frown into a small smile.

_It’s such a nice sound._

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Senkuu-chan–“ Gen stops himself. Senkuu knows that he wants to say something. Even he can tell that people only cut themselves off when they’re afraid of being overheard, or they’re nervous about how the other person may respond.

“Hm?” He delivers a prompt.

“We will get out of this.” The mentalist continues, eyes suddenly hardening and posture tensing. “Correct? You won’t be dragged back to Tsukasa-chan, and Hyouga-chan definitely won’t... so don’t worry.”

Hearing Gen Asagiri, the self-proclaimed best smooth-talker in the world, struggle to find the right words is a situation that Senkuu never thought he would find himself in.

Hearing Gen Asagiri struggle to find words to comfort _him_ is a situation he truly would never see coming.

And yet, it’s oddly endearing that the mentalist is the more nervous of the two. Senkuu is the one with his life on the line. Senkuu is the one tied to a tree among a gang of murderers who came this far for his neck. Senkuu is the one being dragged into the lap of the man who ended his life once before.

“Gen–“

“I should have warned you.” Gen interrupts him. “See, I noticed Homura-chan sneaking up on you, but I figured you would notice, yes? Or, at least someone would. Yet, here we are.” He chuckles.

“It would’ve given you away.” Senkuu is wholly aware that the sentiment is a rationalization and that it most likely won’t make the other feel any better, but it’s the first thing that comes to his mind and the first thing that he can think to say. “Weren’t you saving that for some kind of dramatic reveal?” He feels a smirk come over his face. “Something like, ‘oh, dear Hyouga-chan, you know you should never trust a liar~’”. His voice doesn’t sound anything like Gen’s, and the low volume he’s forced to remain at stops him from releasing the teasing laughter that is hanging just behind his lips. But the attempt at an impression brings a light smile to Gen’s lips, and Senkuu can consider that, at least, a win.

“Senkuu-chan.”

“You keep sayin’ my name like that. I’m starting to think you just wanna make sure you remember it right.” He closes his eyes and plasters his lips with a frustrated frown.

“Senkuu-chan, if…” A frown bursts over Gen’s face too, and Senkuu knows that he’s serious. “If we… if you don’t…” The mentalist averts his eyes, as if he’s looking for the words that won’t confirm what both of them know is the worst possible outcome for this situation. “I’d like for certain things to be out in the open, before that can happen.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, you see,” Gen’s eyes hover on the ground. “I… would rather not lose the chance to be honest with someone on the rare occasion that it presents itself.”

“Woah, Gen Asagiri wants to be honest for once?” He raises an eyebrow. “Now you’ve got my curiosity, mentalist, and not many things can escape my curiosity for long.”

A half-smirk makes its way over Gen’s face, only for a moment, before he falls back into the blankest expression he can manage. “You see, Senkuu-chan–“

“Ah, wait.” He blinks. “Is it something that may change things?”

It’s a question that Senkuu has never truly imagined himself asking. He’s never gotten this feeling, bubbling throughout him, before. This intense need to _save_ something.

“I suppose so.” Gen tilts his head. “Actually, yes. I believe it would change many things.”

Senkuu thinks he has it figured out. Honestly, he thinks he’s had it figured out for a while. He thinks it’s something that he’s been searching for a way to say himself.

“Then, why don’t we save it.” A small smile comes over his lips. “I dunno if we want things to change too drastically while we’re out here.” He looks around, gesturing as much as he physically can with bound hands. “I dunno how far ‘what-ifs’ will get us in this particular situation, so I don’t think we should bother with them. Right?”

Gen blinks, and for a moment Senkuu is worried that he won’t take it well. He’s a bit worried that whatever Gen was going to say, assuming Senkuu’s been right this whole time, will get shoved somewhere deep down and it won’t resurface. He really shouldn’t worry, but he does.

He doesn’t want things to change so drastically when he can’t be sure that he’ll be around to adapt to it.

He doesn’t want any distractions.

He wants to get through this.

“Yes, I believe that is a good idea.” Gen’s more devious smile returns to his lips. “I suppose changing the game now would only serve to shift the level of the playing field more to Hyouga-chan’s favor.”

“Yeah, let’s save it for under a tree at the village, no?”

“Under a tree?” Gen tilts his head to the side before a realization blooms across his face. “Ah, yes. I suppose that would be the most appropriate setting.”

“Right?” He smirks.

“Now, Senkuu-chan,” Gen looks around for a moment before his eyes return to Senkuu. “I do believe that, if we are going to escape this particular situation, we ought to get our rest.”

Senkuu nods. “Yeah, I guess so.”

He still doesn’t think that he’ll manage to get much of any sleep, but Gen doesn’t move. Even after saying such a thing, he doesn’t leave the spot that brought relaxation to Senkuu’s shoulders. Even as Senkuu closes his eyes, Gen doesn’t move. He stays quiet, rooted, and there.

Though it takes a while, longer than it really ought to, Senkuu does manage to drift off into a sleep deep enough that his restlessness doesn’t manage to drag him out of it.

________________________________

Senkuu is pulled out of sleep far more violently than he would like. With a harsh tug of the ropes around his wrists and a kick to the ribs from the woman placed in charge of him, Senkuu is dragged back to the world of the conscious with Gen nowhere to be seen.

The first noise past his lips is a tight groan. The feeling of rough rope dragging across his already sensitive wrists is not an enjoyable feeling. Neither is feeling the foot of a woman who is clearly far stronger than him driving itself directly into his chest. It draws forth a dramatic gasp of pain and the instinctual jerking back of his hands in an attempt to cover the area that he is certain will bruise. But it doesn’t work. The sudden motion just ends up rubbing his wrists against the harsh rope even harder, and drags another hiss of pain past his lips.

“Wake up.” Homura only bothers to issue the command after it’s absolutely undeniable that Senkuu is, in fact, awake.

“I’m awake.” He frowns, glaring at her from his place on the ground. “Maybe, next time, you should try the verbal approach _before_ the violent one.”

All that gets him is another violent tug to the rope and a slight change to an angrier facial expression.

“Then get up. Now.” There’s no change to her voice, which Senkuu can’t say he didn’t expect, as she moves to grip his arm. “We’re leaving.”

“Yeah, I got that.” He shoots back, pulling himself to his feet. It’s almost a struggle, and he thinks she might be holding his arm so high just to make it into a struggle for him, but none of that really matters. She’s an enemy after all. Enemies haven’t exactly been kind to him in the past either. “Would be easier if I could move my hands, you know.”

“I am not going to untie you.” The statement is simple. “Hyouga-sama would not permit such a thing.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He breathes a small sigh, eyes dropping closed. The sleep he managed to get is more than he ever thought he would in this situation, but he still feels as though he was dragged out of it too soon. After a moment, his eyes jump open and his vision darts around the area. Searching for a dash of purple that he knows was beside him when he drifted off. But now is no where to be seen.

The look in Homura’s eyes, one of suspicion and perhaps a dash of curiosity, tells him that she’s most certainly noticed the look. Yet she doesn’t say a word, or ask a question. His eyes stop darting around. Raising suspicion is the last thing the two of them need right now.

After a few moments of silent standing, Senkuu’s eyes never leaving the woman holding the other end of the rope, Homura makes a sharp tug on her end and Senkuu lurches forward.

“That really isn’t necessary.” He frowns, eyes narrowing. “You’re stronger than me, and you have me tied up. I don’t think you need to be dragging me around like a damn dog.”

“I do not think that you are in a place to say such things.” Is the only response she offers, turning her back and starting forward. Senkuu elects not to offer an additional response as he trails after her, eyes scanning the forest floor that they pass. Perhaps he’s looking for something, anything, that could serve as a distraction, a weapon, an escape route, _anything_. But nothing presents itself. And all Senkuu can do is frown in frustration.

“Good morning, Senkuu-kun. Did you rest well?” The words are smooth and sharp. Pointed. Fake. Not that Senkuu would expect anything else out of the looming tower of a man.

“Actually, yeah.” He presses his eyes closed, forcing his lips into the most neutral expression possible. “You know I was asleep within ten minutes. Thank you for putting me under such a comfortable tree, Homura-_san._” He can’t help the small smirk that works its way onto his lips. He half expects a kick to be delivered to his shin, maybe even his stomach or chest again, but Homura doesn’t even dignify his teasing with a response.

“Ah, wonderful. That means you’re ready for a busy day.” Hyouga’s smile doesn’t falter for a moment as he steps towards the smaller scientist. “Correct?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” The smirk on his lips twitches, slightly, with nerves. He can only hope that Hyouga doesn’t notice.

Unlikely.

“Homura-kun, you know your job, correct?” Hyouga’s eyes shift to his right-hand woman and Senkuu much prefers it this way.

“Of course, Hyouga-sama.”

“Wonderful. Then, shall we get going?”

The looming man doesn’t even bother to wait for a response. He turns, eyes still focused on Senkuu, before he steps forward and his stare is broken.

A moment passes where Homura simply stares after the man. Perhaps, if Senkuu thinks about it, she’s waiting for him to walk far enough that she won’t be infringing on his space. Perhaps she wants to be far enough behind him to display her respect. Perhaps it has something to do with Senkuu himself.

Not that it really matters.

As soon as a dash of purple crosses his vision, Senkuu’s shoulders relax.

And he’s just glad that Gen walks in front of them for the majority of the day.

_________________________________

“Senkuu-chan,” There’s a set of hands on his wrists. Soft, gentle, kind. Different than the last two pairs of hands to grab his skin. As much as he may want it, as much as the owner of these hands may want it, there’s still a harsh rope between Senkuu’s raw wrists and the soothing feeling of Gen’s finger pads against his skin. “Senkuu-chan,” Gen says his name again. Voice soft, low, soothing. There’s more than one reason for that, Senkuu knows, but for now he chooses to focus on the reason that distracts him from the harsh throbbing in his wrists and the pounding in his feet.

“Yeah?”

“It is quite tight.”

“And?”

“If they suffer much more of this treatment, your wrists will bleed.”

“So?”

“It cannot be comfortable.”

“Do you think they care?” He tilts his head to the side. “Cause I certainly don’t.”

“No. But that does not mean that I don’t care.” He wishes that he could say that the sound of such kind words with such a soft, sweet, tender tone to them doesn’t leave his cheeks feeling just a touch too hot and his tongue just a little too twisted. “And, should your wrists be allowed to bleed, you know it will most likely scar.”

“Does it matter?”

“It will not be comfortable for you.” Senkuu can feel the ropes shift, ever so slightly, as his eyes are drawn up to Gen’s face. The mentalist’s fingers run across the red markings along Senkuu’s skin.

But Senkuu can’t pull his gaze from Gen’s face.

“I don’t suppose you would prefer that your wrists scar from this?”

“Well, yeah. I dunno if anyone would want that.” His response doesn’t miss a beat, eyes stubbornly refusing to budge from their focus on Gen. “But I can deal with it. There’s not much we can do about it until we manage to come up with a real plan.”

“Yes, how is that coming along?”

“It’s getting there.”

_That’s a lie._

“Really?” Gen’s head tilts to the side, and Senkuu can’t help but notice the small twitch of his smile. Not something that Senkuu sees as being out of nerves or deceit. It’s something that Senkuu has noticed before. Just a small quirk of Gen’s face. “You know, you yourself said that night three will likely be our point of no return, Senkuu-chan.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“So.” Gen’s eyes leave Senkuu’s wrists and move up to meet his gaze. “A plan?”

“I’m working on it.”

“Senkuu-chan.” Gen’s voice tightens, if only slightly, “I think it may be risky, but I have a plan.”

He blinks, eyes widening ever so slightly as he his crimson irises stare into Gen’s gray-blue ones. “Risky how?”

“Perhaps it could have me discovered, perhaps it couldn’t.” Gen’s fingers leave Senkuu’s skin and he makes a conscious effort to hide the disappointment that plows through his chest. “Though, I do think it’s worth it to try, don’t you?”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Here.” Gen’s left hand disappears into his right sleeve and returns mere moments later with something that Senkuu recognizes. And, before he knows it, the small iron knife is being pressed into his grip. “We cut you free right now, and we run.”

“Didn’t we already rule that out?” Senkuu tilts his head with a soft frown. “Neither of us is strong or fast enough to get away before they could catch us. And I seriously doubt that they wouldn’t notice we were gone before we get far. It will blow your cover too.”

“Yes, all of those things are true.” Gen’s teeth come down on his bottom lip. “But… you know we can’t just do _nothing._”

Senkuu feels his lips drop apart as Gen’s eyes drift away from his own. He wishes that his hands were untied. He wishes they were back in the village. He wishes they were _safe_, because he wants nothing more than to cup Gen’s face in his hands and tell him that it’s going to be okay.

He doesn’t know that yet.

But he wants Gen to believe it.

“Okay.” He finds himself nodding, flipping the small blade around in his bound hands. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Gen blinks, eyes darting back up to Senkuu’s own. Though Senkuu isn’t looking at him anymore. Senkuu is focused on dragging the tiny metal knife across his binds.

“Well? Are you gonna help me or not?”

Gen blinks, just once, and nods. The mentalist’s hands, soft and dainty and gentle, most would consider them feminine, jump on top of the scientist’s in an effort to get the blade through the rope as quickly as possible.

The rope breaks open, and Senkuu has to hold back a breath of relief. He can practically see the urge to stop for the moment in Gen’s eyes. The urge to do something about the raw red that’s showing on Senkuu’s skin, but right now they can’t afford to do that. Right now, they need to focus.

“You hold onto it.” Gen pushes the knife into Senkuu’s hand. “They’ll probably focus on you, yes? You should have something to defend yourself.”

“I dunno how to use it for that.” Senkuu frowns.

“Neither do I. At least you can threaten them with it.”

So he nods.

“Okay.” He grips the hilt of the knife tightly between his fingers before his eyes meet Gen’s.

  
“Let’s go.”

_______________________

As soon as Senkuu can hear the crashing branches behind them, he knows it’s over.

He can’t honestly be sure what it was that tipped them off. He and Gen have been running through the trees for what feels like long enough for the sun to come up, yet the moon still hangs over them in the sky and the trees are crashing behind them.

His eyes, wide and panicked and unfocused, shift to stare at Gen. Running about three feet to his right. He has to wonder, somewhere, what exactly Hyouga will do to him. Gen is a traitor, after all. And traitors tend to get worse punishment than enemies, if anything Senkuu knows from the old world stays true.

_Sorry, Gen._

His head turns to look over his shoulder. To look behind him. He manages to catch a flash of light pink, a flash of Homura, and he’s made up his mind.

When his feet next hit the forest floor, Senkuu dives right, crashing right into the mentalist running beside him. He catches a yelp from the slightly older boy’s throat, muttering an apology under his breath as he rapidly manages to adjust his position, pinning Gen to the forest floor with a knee in the other’s back and a hand in his hair, yanking Gen’s head backwards. For a moment, he can see that Gen’s eyes are wide and panicked, as if he’s been betrayed, and Senkuu hates that he’s the one who’s brought that look to Gen’s eyes.

_Don’t say anything yet don’t say anything yet._

The knife, still clenched between Senkuu’s fingers, finds itself pressed to Gen’s throat.

“HOMURA!!” He shouts, and the crashing sound coming from the trees stops dead. “DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!” His voice is rough and raw as he screams. “IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER, I’LL KILL THIS BASTARD, AND I DON’T THINK HYOUGA OR TSUKASA WOULD BE VERY HAPPY ABOUT THAT!!”

The situation, the ruse, seems to click in Gen’s mind right then, as his eyes shift from a look of betrayal to a look of pure fear. Senkuu prefers this look, if only because he knows that it’s fake.

“Homura-chan..! Please stay back..! He means it!!” Gen’s voice comes out as strained, desperate, afraid, and once again Senkuu finds himself in awe of just how good with his own voice Gen actually is. Perhaps Gen was ready for this plan all along. Perhaps that’s why he was so insistent that Senkuu hold the knife.

No sound comes from the forest in front of them. No motion can be seen, and the light pink that Senkuu saw before is entirely invisible now. Quiet. Gone.

_Where did she go?_

He leans down and forward, trying to bring his lips as close to Gen’s ear as possible while keeping his eyes glued to the forest. He opens his mouth, just about to ask if the one still pinned beneath him sees anything, if he thinks it’s safe for them to keep going, how he thinks they should proceed, when he hears a branch snap behind him.

His mouth drops open, eyes wide and wild as he whirls his head around, just about to scream his next threat when he feels the sharp press of a blade against his shoulder. Tight, he can feel the tip on the verge of tearing through his clothing. He doesn’t move a single muscle, hand still pressing his knife into Gen’s neck, and this is the moment where he truly wishes, with all of his heart, that things had gone differently.

“Now, Senkuu-kun, did I not warn you what exactly would happen should you try to run?”

He can feel Gen freeze beneath him.

He can feel his own hands tensing, and he makes sure to flip the knife over so only the blunt end is anywhere near Gen’s skin.

“Back off, I swear, if you don’t back off I’ll kill him.” Even now, the worst possible time, he can hear his own voice shake. “I don’t think Momma Tsukasa would be particularly happy that you let his mentalist die, do you?”

“Now, Senkuu-kun,” Hyouga’s voice isn’t even the slightest bit different. Soft. Smooth as silk. “You’re already beaten. Should you kill him, you lose any leverage you may have and we will simply kill you. Should you not have the guts to kill him, we will simply take you right back. You have lost either way.”

His hands are shaking.

He knows that Gen will notice that his hands are shaking, probably that the rest of him is shaking too.

“Senkuu-kun, don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

They stay like that, exactly like that, for another minute. Another whole minute, before he hears crunching along the ground and his head whirls around and–

“Senkuu-chan..!”

He lets out a cry of pain, not a loud cry, not a desperate cry. Nothing beyond something unexpected, and something that _hurts._

Homura is on top of him within seconds, one hand on his left wrist, the one of the hand holding the small blade, and one hand around the hilt of her own knife, now pressed roughly against Senkuu’s neck. Just enough to feel the press of the blade, just enough to feel the soft feeling of blood dripping from where the edge is pressed into his skin.

“I wouldn’t move, if I were you.”

The pressure is crushing.

That’s certainly one of many reasons that he feels as though he can’t get air past his throat. His breathing grows louder and louder, more and more desperate, the longer Homura keeps her knife against his neck.

His hand clenches closed, holding onto the knife with all the grip he has. It can’t save him now, even he knows that, but he won’t let it go.

His eyes drift past her, right to where Gen is standing from his place on the ground and beginning to dust himself off. He can see something forming in Gen’s mind. He can see it in his eyes and on his face. He’s forming a plan.

Senkuu is going to put his trust in Gen.

“Hyouga-chan…” Gen’s voice is breathy, exhausted, and Senkuu thinks that the panting, at least, is real. “I’ll be heading back to camp… if you don’t mind…”

Senkuu sees Hyouga turn his head, sees his eyes focus on Gen. Sees the towering behemoth of a man zero in on the mentalist, and something in him shifts. Something in Senkuu’s gut shifts.

  
“Just wait a moment, Gen-kun.” Hyouga grins beneath his mask and Senkuu’s brow furrows deeply. “We do have one important question to ask our esteemed guest, and I do think it’s important for his hostage to be around for it.”

“Oh? Hyouga-chan, what might that be?” Gen tilts his head to the side, eyes flickering between Hyouga and Senkuu with such a perfect disguise that, if Senkuu didn’t know better, he would believe that the look of hatred Gen stares at him with was real.

_We’ll get back to the village._

_We’ll get back._

_We’ll survive this._

“So, Senkuu-kun~”

“Hm.”

“Where did you get this~?” Hyouga’s voice has suddenly, without prompting, become much more sing-song. Perhaps excited could even be used to describe the sound that comes from the towering man’s lungs.

“Where did I get what, Hyouga?” A small smirk manages to find its way onto his lips.

“This.” Senkuu’s left hand is practically ripped open. His eyes snap upwards as he takes a sharp inhale. The force of Hyouga’s fingers on his own is enough, Senkuu thinks, to snap his bones should Hyouga want to. He can hear a small, sharp inhale coming from the mentalist. He can feel the small knife being taken from his grip. “Perhaps you had this when we took you? Perhaps an ally left it along the way? Perhaps you had an ally beside you all along~?” There’s a smile on Hyouga’s face. Even if it’s hidden behind the mask, Senkuu can tell with ease exactly what the towering man is showing in his eyes.

“Oh, that.” He lets out a soft chuckle, eyes pressing closed. There’s a trail of red running down his neck. He doesn’t even have to see it to be certain of it. He doubts Hyouga will let it go on much longer, if Hyouga does have the intention of keeping him alive, but the pressure on his throat is starting to become overwhelming. It’s becoming too much. He can’t breathe. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to breathe if this continues for much longer.

His eyes, just for a moment, dart to look at Gen. Just for a moment, just long enough to force a look of hatred into his crimson irises. Just long enough, he thinks, to make it look convincing.

_I won’t let them hurt him._

“I had it on me before. Guess I wanted to wait until there was someone there for me to take hostage before I used it~. And, you know, that damn mentalist might be the only one in your group pathetic enough to get jumped by _me._”

“Ahh, I see. Clever strategy, Senkuu-kun. Too bad it ended up here~” Hyouga’s gaze shifts to Homura. “Homura-kun, take a step back, please.”

Homura doesn’t even question it. She’s off of him in a moment and Senkuu’s hand flies to his neck and his lungs have him gasping desperately for air. His eyes meet Gen’s, just for a moment. He hates that he can only look at the other for a moment. He hates the look in the other’s eyes. The fear, hidden just beneath the cover of hatred. Gen, beneath the façade that Senkuu knows is the only thing keeping him alive, standing, unrestrained, looks as though he’s about to burst into tears.

And Senkuu doesn’t think he can take that.

So he rips his eyes away, and focuses on the leaves, hanging above him. Focuses on breathing.

_Focus._

_Breathe._

He doesn’t bother pulling himself into a sitting position. He thinks he knows what’s coming next, and he doesn’t think there’s much of anything that sitting up will do to dull it.

_____________________

Senkuu doesn’t have much experience with pain.

There are a great deal of things that Senkuu knows about pain. He knows where it comes from within the body, he knows that too much pain can result in an inability to feel it from nerve damage. He knows that, sometimes, pain becomes so intense that a person’s only defense mechanism against it is to simply pass out so as to no longer be subjected to it.

But Senkuu hasn’t experienced much pain in his, admittedly long, life so far.

He gets a feeling that’s about to change.

He presses his eyes closed, focusing on his breathing. There’s nothing on his neck, no pressure. No knife. Just a wound small enough to be blocked by his hand. He needs to catch his breath. The only thought running through his mind is that he needs to catch his breath.

And then everything grinds to a vicious and violent halt.

Senkuu has never been one to show his emotions, to let much of anything phase him,

But, when he feels the tip of Hyouga’s spear tearing through the overly-sensitive, soft skin of his left palm, he can feel his entire body _tightening. _He can feel himself _squirm_. And it’s less than a moment before he lets loose a shriek of nothing but desperation and _pain._

_Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT._

Everything in his muscles screams for him to move, to fight back, to _get away,_ but Hyouga has yet to take the blade out of his palm and all Senkuu can really bring himself to do is slam his eyes closed and bite down on his lip as _hard as possible. _He can feel his lip bleeding under the pressure of his teeth and tears coming into his eyes, but he doesn’t move. He doesn’t say anything.

He understands how people pass out from this.

“Ah, Senkuu-kun, could it be that you’ve never been injured like this before?” He can _hear_ the smile in Hyouga’s voice, and he wonders how someone could even become sadistic enough to smile during something like this.

He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t think he could open his mouth without letting loose another violent scream. So he doesn’t.

“Senkuu-kun, you know it’s polite to respond when someone is talking to you, yes?” The spear comes out of his palm and Senkuu is practically jumping to pull his left hand into the grip of his right. Panting, huffing, there’s crimson spilling down his hand, leaking onto his arm and chest and clothing.

Senkuu was never one to get squeamish from blood. But right now, just a glimpse of his hand is enough to fill his stomach with a distinct nausea. He pulls himself into a sitting position, trying to find a better way to breathe and a better way to quell the queasiness in his gut.

“H-Hyouga-chan–“ Gen tries to speak up. Senkuu can hear the shake in the mentalist’s voice, even if he were trying to cover it up, Senkuu doesn’t think he would be able to.

“Senkuu-kun.” Hyouga’s voice grows harsher with his interruption. Not by much, but he can hear a distinct undertone of anger in the towering man’s voice. Senkuu has to hope that anger is solely focused on him, and that none of it is directed towards his secret ally. “Did you not hear me speaking?”

“Y-Yeah, yeah.” He manages to get the words out in-between violent huffs of air. “Yeah.”

“Senkuu-kun, I do hope you know that, whatever should come next, you brought on yourself, yes?”

“Yeah, whatever.” He presses his eyes closed.

_That means it’s not over. Obviously it’s not over. How much more is he going to do? Is he going to kill me?_

“Gen-kun.” Senkuu feels himself tensing, though he thinks the motion could simply be attributed to the whole situation.

“Yes, Hyouga-chan?” Gen’s voice is coated with honey, just as always, and Senkuu still has to marvel at just how good that damn mentalist is at concealing his true feelings.

“Come here, if you would.” Senkuu is almost nervous as he hears Gen’s footsteps inching towards the towering man. But, when minutes pass with no cry of pain, no scream, no snapping sound or tearing sound, he figures that, at least for now, Gen hasn’t been found out.

He manages to open his eyes, just enough to look right up at the man towering over him.

_I don’t want to die._

_____________________________________

“Senkuu-chan~”

Normally, under any other circumstance, hearing that voice would relax him. Normally, under any other circumstance, hearing that voice sounding so happy, calm, comfortable, would be something that would inspire no less than the same feelings in him. Normally. Under any other circumstance.

Under this circumstance, right now, he doesn’t feel any of those things.

“Wow, you know, I really thought that precious village of yours would have come for you by now, don’t you think~? I mean, you’re meant to be their fearless leader or whatever, and yet you’re here.”

_Snap._

_Scream_.

He thinks he sees Gen flinch.

“See~? They’re meant to save you, and yet here you are. With Hyouga-chan, and Homura-chan, and me~.” A devious, malicious smirk spreads over the mentalist’s face, but the expression never quite reaches his eyes. “Poor, poor Senkuu-chan~ I wonder why you would even bother fighting back so hard~ It’s really for nothing, you know. Your precious Kingdom of Science would have just abandoned you, eventually~”

_Snap._

_Scream._

His throat feels raw.

He feels Gen’s hands, meant to be gentle and soft and _kind_ against his skin, pressing right into the wound on his neck. Unprotected. There’s nothing Senkuu can do to stop it. There’s nothing Senkuu can do to fight the pressure off his throat, what with his wrists tied together and the other end of the rope secured to yet another damn tree, far above his head. He almost wonders exactly where Homura is keeping all of this rope.

His hands can’t drag themselves down. He can’t get his hands over the wound. He can’t pry the new set of hands off.

He presses his eyes closed.

_Snap._

_Scream._

He can’t breathe.

He throws his mouth open, heaving and panting for air. Air of any kind. He can’t breathe he can’t breathe he can’t _breathe. He has to breathe._

“Just like I have~”

He forces his eyes closed.

_He’s just lying he’s just lying he’s just lying he’s just lying he’s just lying it’s not real it’s not real it’s not–_

_SNAP_

Senkuu screams.

He screams, pulling on his arms as hard as his admittedly feeble muscles will allow. He pulls and pulls and screams and screams. His legs kick and kick and kick, even with the nearing _unbearable_ levels of pain that blossom from them and he _screams. _He screams so hard that his lungs scream right back, and he can feel something on his wrists, thick and wet and slimy. He can feel tears entering his eyes, mouth hanging so far open that he swears his jaw is starting to ache.

“Gen-kun, calm him down.”

Gen’s hands leave his neck.

“Senkuu-chan, breathe, okay? Breathe.” Any malicious intent is gone, vanished, within the blink of an eye, and Gen’s fingers are, instead, against his cheeks. “Look at me, alright? Look at me.”

  
“W-Water…” Is the first word that pushes past Senkuu’s lips, in-between harsh gasps for air and half-broken sobs. “W-Water… please…”

“Hyouga-chan–“

“Shut him up.”

A moment passes, something flies through the air. Something small and light, since Senkuu doesn’t hear it land, nor does he hear the telltale sign of something hitting another’s palm.

“You heard me, Gen-kun. Shut him up.”

There’s a pause. Just for a moment.

“Senkuu-chan, open your mouth.” Gen’s voice is soft, gentle, and low. The familiarity of the tone sends Senkuu shaking. He hates it. He hates hearing it here. Like this. “If you don’t then we’ll have to make you~”

He opens his mouth.

It’s a wad of fabric. Which, normally, Senkuu would guess right off the bat. But now, here, the only reason he even manages to figure it out at all is the feeling of the material on his tongue, as it rubs against the insides of his cheeks, as it presses, softly, against his teeth.

He can’t breathe through it.

He struggles to breathe through his nose instead. 

“Senkuu-chan, open your eyes, okay? Look at me, please.” Gen’s fingers are on his face again, gentle and careful and soft as he carefully presses his thumb into the fresh and bleeding cut just above Senkuu’s left eye. “Breathe, okay? Breathe through your nose.”

_Does Hyouga know?_

_Did Hyouga figure it out?_

_Is that why he’s doing this?_

He takes a long, deep breath. He forces his shoulders down, he makes his chest stop heaving and closes his eyes. He forces his legs onto the ground. He drives his focus, 100% of his focus, to the points of contact on his face. He focuses on Gen’s fingers against his cheeks.

He pretends that they’re somewhere else.

He pretends that it’s just him and Gen. He pretends they’re back in the village, he pretends that they’re in the storehouse, or the laboratory, or just resting the in the forest across the bridge.

_Snap._

The screaming starts again.

“Senkuu-chan~ You know how much easier it would be to give up~?”

_‘We can’t just do _ ** _nothing._ ** _’_

“Senkuu-chan, you know they aren’t coming for you, right~?”

_Snap._

“Senkuu-chan. Why don’t you come join us? You know how happy Tsukasa-chan would be to see you~? Do you know how happy Tsukasa-chan would be to have you by his side~?”

_Scream._

“Senkuu-chan. Don’t you want to stay with me~?”

_Yeah. Yeah, I do._

“Senkuu-chan~”

_Snap._

“_Just give up~”_

_I really want to._

Senkuu screams. Even with a gag shoved in his mouth, even with Gen’s fingers pressed against his cheeks, even with his eyes pressed closed and his body tense and his legs nearing immobile, he _screams._

_Make it stop. Just make it stop._

___________________________________

“Senkuu-chan.”

He can barely hear Gen’s words over his own harsh attempts at breathing around the fabric stuffed in his mouth.

“Senkuu-chan, it’s just me now, okay? It’s just me.” Gen’s voice is low, and quiet, and Senkuu is inclined to believe it. He is. He really is, but he doesn’t move. He doesn’t open his eyes. He doesn’t shift his head. Even when he feels Gen lifting him, just enough to get Senkuu’s head into his lap, all he can do is let out a pained groan and furrow his eyebrows. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t even try. He thinks he might have passed out from the pain. He really does. Since he doesn’t remember anything after the last loud snapping sound and the scream that tore its way through his lungs, but now he can feel tight throbbing in his lower abdomen, and there’s most certainly a sticky wet substance leaking onto his skin.

“Senkuu-chan, can you open your eyes? Please?” There’s subtext to that. There’s something under those words.

_‘Let me see that you’re okay. Let me see that he didn’t break you. Let me see that _ ** _I _ ** _didn’t break you.’_

He knows that his eyes are bruised. And he knows that it will hurt to open them. So he doesn’t. He doesn’t open his eyes. He exhales, softly, and shifts his head just enough for it to be obvious that it’s intentional. And he hears a sigh of relief from the lungs of the mentalist.

“You passed out.” Is the next thing to leave Gen’s lips. “I assume it was from the pain. Hyouga-chan and Homura-chan left you with me. They asked me to call for them when you woke up.” He whispers. “So, stay asleep, okay? Don’t move. Don’t open your eyes, once they come back.”

He wants to ask what their plan is. What they’re going to do next. Though he doubts Gen would be aware of that. Maybe he would. It doesn’t matter. Senkuu can’t speak, anyway. The gag is still between his teeth, and he knows that Gen can’t pull it out without earning at least some anger from Hyouga. And, honestly, the very last thing Senkuu wants right now is for Gen to join him, bloodied and bruised on the forest floor.

Gen’s fingers, light as a feather and delicate as an angel, dance across the bruises and cuts that Senkuu can feel over his eyes, and he struggles to get a calm breath past his nostrils. It takes less time, as he feels Gen’s fingers brushing his stray hair away from his face and wiping the sticky red liquid off of his eyes. It’s odd, almost, that the intense, terrifying _pain_ in almost half of his body can be so easily calmed from just the mentalist’s touch.

“Don’t worry, Senkuu-chan.” His voice is just as light as the touch of his fingers, and the labored breathing through fabric calms. “Okay? I know it hurts. It hurts a lot, right? I know it hurts. But it’s going to be alright. Okay? I’ll get you out of this. Before you have to see Tsukasa-chan again, okay? It will be alright. We’ll be alright. Just breathe for me, alright? Breathe. Breathe. Stay calm, Senkuu-chan, stay calm.”

He nods again, only once, jerking his head up and down. His neck hurts, and he can’t reach down to cover the small cut, still leaking blood. His next inhale is sharp, even with Gen offering small, comforting shushing sounds right into his ear.

He wishes things were different right now.

“Hey, Senkuu-chan, we were being kind of dumb before, right?” A soft laugh comes from the mentalist’s lungs. “Or perhaps the word is optimistic? Thinking we should save something important for the village… Perhaps we should save it for the village, but I don’t want it to be too late.” Gen pauses, just for a moment, before Senkuu can hear Gen’s head jerking upwards and he can feel Gen’s fingers leave his skin.

_Hyouga’s back._

_____________________________________

Senkuu stops screaming, after a while.

He thinks, after the third time that the dull end of Hyouga’s spear is shoved into his ribs and he hears a harsh _snapping_ sound, he doesn’t have it in him to scream anymore.

He still jerks his wrists downward in a horrific failure to cover the pain with his hands. Instead, it only manages to send additional shocks of pain through his wrists, shoulders, arms, hands, _everything._ He still struggles to get air into his lungs, he still squirms and struggles and arches his back against the floor of the forest with a violent force.

Everything still _hurts._

“Senkuu-chan, are you sure you want to keep fighting?” Gen’s voice is still so soft, the same, so gentle and so _close_ to being kind. He wants to let himself get lost in that voice. He wants to believe those words.

  
He supposes that’s why Gen considers himself the world’s best smooth-talker.

“Senkuu-chan, all of this can stop so quickly~”

_‘We can’t just do _ ** _nothing._ ** _’_

_“Just give up~”_

Senkuu’s eyes press closed.

_Okay. Okay. See? See, Hyouga? See? I’m giving up._

A moment passes, of complete silence. Senkuu thinks Hyouga might be telling Gen to do something. Hyouga must be telling someone to do something, but he can hear nothing but blood rushing past his ears and the harsh, repeated sounds of his own breathing.

“Senkuu-chan~?”

“Mm.” A short, delayed groan is the only response he can offer.

“You know none of what I’m saying is a lie, right~?”

He opens his eyes and looks up, right up, crimson eyes meeting blue-gray. And all he can see is a swirl of lies, deceit, confusion. He doesn’t know what to do.

Gen’s fingers feel so nice against his cheeks.

He nods.

_Yeah._

_I know._

“Good~” Gen’s hand runs up his cheek in a manner that borders on devious, and Senkuu, in that moment, is _sure _that Hyouga has it figured out. He can’t for the life of him, think of a reason that Hyouga would keep up the ruse, perhaps he thinks that this is much more painful than anything he could do to Gen himself. Perhaps he doesn’t care enough to bother providing proof of Gen’s betrayal. Perhaps he doesn’t see Gen as a threat.

“You know, Senkuu-chan, I just want the best for you.”

_I know._

“So don’t fight back anymore, okay? Once we get to Tsukasa-chan, just tell him you want to join him, okay?”

_Okay._

“Just tell him you’re renouncing science, okay?”

_Okay._

“They don’t care about you, anyway. They don’t care about you _or _me. You care about me, don’t you, Senkuu-chan?”

_Yeah, I do._

“If they cared about us, they’d be here by now. You know that, right Senkuu-chan?”

He nods.

He can’t help it.

He nods.

“See, Senkuu-chan? If they cared about you at all, if they wanted you around at all, you wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t be in all this pain.” One of Gen’s hands moves down, fingers gliding over Senkuu’s neck, and it takes everything in him not to flinch away from the touch.

“You know that, don’t you?”

He nods.

He hates that he nods.

He hates that he _nods._

_He hates that he believes it._

_But everything hurts._

_And no one is there to save him._

___________________________________

“Hyouga-chan, I don’t think–“

The sound of his feet touching the ground is followed by harsh, tight, violent _crunching_.

“What? Are you going to carry him, Gen-kun?”

Every step could be added to the list of the hardest things he’s ever done. And he can’t help but think that right now would be the _perfect_ time for Kohaku and the others to jump out of the trees.

“I-I’m not strong enough for that! But you certainly shouldn’t be– Senkuu-chan!?”

He collapses.

He isn’t even sure exactly how it happened. One moment he was standing, exhausted irises hidden behind bruised eyelids, huffing and panting and working to keep himself upright. And the next, he’s on the ground.

“Senkuu-chan!?”

There’s a high-pitched screech that presses past his gag. There’s a whimper, high and loud and **pathetic** that comes next. He sees white spots dancing through his vision as he fights to keep himself awake. Now, on the forest floor, while they’re dragging him, is not a good time to pass out.

The mentalist, eyes wide and fearful and concerned, practically dives to be next to him on the forest floor. Hands moving to cup Senkuu’s cheeks and check his breathing. Senkuu is sure that Hyouga is watching, but right now he really can’t bring himself to care.

_Just make it stop. Please._

“Senkuu-chan!? Hey, Senkuu-chan, it’s me. It’s me, okay? Breathe. Breathe. Breathe with me, Senkuu-chan.”

“Gen-kun. Hurry.” Hyouga sounds more annoyed than anything, and Senkuu really doesn’t like the sound of that tone. “Get him up.”

“Senkuu-chan, you can hear me, right? You can hear me?”

He jerks his head in a violent, uncomfortable nod. He doesn’t know how else to move. He doesn’t think he _can_ move in any other way.

“Okay, okay. Just listen to me, yeah? You need… you need to try to get up, okay? I’m sorry, Senkuu-chan, I’ll help you, okay? I’ll help you. Breathe, okay?” He feels Gen’s hands making their way under one of his shoulders, he thinks its his right but his brain feels like it’s melting and the touch is enough to send shivers of pain through his body and hot flashes of black across his vision. He can feel and, to a lesser extent, hear a harsh whimper coming from deep in his throat as Gen starts pulling him up. He isn’t ready, not that any of those present really care, and he can feel himself slumping into the mentalist as soon as his feet hit the ground again.

“Okay, you’re doing great, Senkuu-chan. You’re doing great.” Gen’s voice is low and soft. “See? You’re already up. You’re doing so great, Senkuu-chan.” His forehead is pressed into Gen’s neck as the other places a firm arm around Senkuu’s back in some attempt to help him stay upright. He exhales through his nose, trying not to choke around the gag in his mouth, and lets Gen take his weight. His eyes close and he tries, he really _really_ tries to ignore the _crunch_ that comes as soon as he puts any weight on his ankles. But the sound reaches his ears and another whimper manages to work its way through the fabric.

“You’re doing so well, Senkuu-chan. You’re doing so well.” He tries, desperately, to lose himself in Gen’s voice. It isn’t going to work, but he _tries._

Just as he’s up, just as he’s listening to Gen’s soft reassurances, just as he’s listening to Gen’s kind words. Just as he’s beginning to get lost in them. There’s a harsh tug and his already screaming wrists _burn._ He lets out another scream, so muffled by the fabric between his teeth that it comes out as more of a whine.

“Hyouga-chan!”

“I said hurry, did I not?”

“Kn-knocking him over again won’t make it any quicker, you know.” Senkuu can almost, _almost_, hear the rage bubbling underneath Gen’s words. Or maybe he can’t. Maybe that’s just how he wants Gen to feel, right now. Maybe that’s just how he wants it to be.

Hyouga doesn’t offer a response beyond another tug on the rope and a small ‘hm’ when it brings another screech from the scientist’s lungs. He thinks that he can hear Gen saying something, but the sound of blood rushing past his ears is too loud and his brain feels as though he’s on drugs. He knows that he can see Hyouga’s mouth moving under the mask, but his eyes are too tired for him to try to read the towering man’s movements.

Hyouga (or Homura? He doesn’t know which one of them is holding it) yanks the rope one more time. And one more time is all it takes for Senkuu to come crashing to the ground once again. His legs kick up in the air and, even if his ribs start screaming the moment he hits the ground, he is grateful for the weight to be taken off of his legs.

“Hyouga-chan–!”

Gen stops talking.

Senkuu can hear footsteps. They’re loud enough for him to hear them over the rushing blood in his ears and the harsh panting of his own breathing. He hears a shout that sounds like it’s in protest moments before a hand closes around the top of his head. He feels it pulling him up, just enough for Hyouga to meet his eyes. Just enough for him to stare right into Senkuu’s half-hidden irises.

“What did I tell you, Senkuu-kun?”

He can hear the devious smile in Hyouga’s voice.

“Didn’t I tell you not to disappoint me?”

_Yeah._

“So, perhaps, you’ll think twice next time. If there is a next time~”

_I doubt there will be._

“Homura-kun.” Hyouga’s grip is relinquished, and Senkuu feels his face slam right back into the dirt.

He barely has even a moment to catch his breath before he feels the skin on his wrists _tearing_ all over again, and he hears Gen saying something. He can’t be sure what exactly Gen is saying, but he knows that he can feel himself being pulled along the forest floor by his wrists. He can hear himself screaming through fabric and he can feel his legs kicking and his torso flailing in some, clearly futile, attempt to get himself free. There are tears in his eyes and whimpers on his lips, but they don’t stop.

About ten minutes in, he stops fighting.

______________________________________

In the limited amount of thought Senkuu is capable of processing right now, much of it is occupied with simply thinking about how he’s _so relieved to be alive._

The rest of what thought he’s capable of processing is dedicated to cataloguing the different sources of pain. The different injuries that will have to be set, treated, cared for, whenever he gets somewhere, _anywhere_, where he’s allowed to actually rest. Not that he’s stupid enough to think that’s coming any time soon.

Before anything else, he’s certain that the bones in both of his ankles are broken. He can’t be sure exactly how broken they are, but they are most definitely broken. Anytime he tries to shift into a more comfortable position, something that is already difficult, they _scream_ for him to _just stay still._

If he could scream past the gag, stuffed into his mouth with little care put into how difficult it would be to breathe through such a thing, he still wouldn’t. His throat feels too raw. He needs a drink of water. When he asked for some, all they did was stuff a gag in his mouth.

He’s pretty sure that his left tibia is broken as well, though he can’t be as certain of the severity of that injury when he can’t even move his legs enough to test it. There’s a strong possibility that his right fibula is broken too, he did hear the snapping of bone when Hyouga slammed the dull end of his spear into the back of Senkuu’s right leg and Gen muttered something about giving up right into his ear, but that’s a bone where it’s difficult to tell if it’s broken under _normal_ circumstances.

He can’t be sure of much of anything. He knows that his clothes, the leather that he tanned and fastened himself over a year and a half ago, the clothing that was his first true step towards scientific progress, is torn. Ruined, actually, would probably be a better word. His hand guards are torn far beyond recognition or repair, the chest of his tunic is ripped, filled with holes, stained with blood from the repeated abuses to his torso.

He knows that he’s bleeding.

He knows that it’s bad.

He doesn’t think that any of the wounds are fatal on their own. He has to wonder if Hyouga used to do this professionally back before this Stone World. He most certainly, at the very least, knows what he’s doing.

Even taking a breath sends flashes of hot pain through his entire body. And he knows for _sure_ that at least two of his ribs are broken. So he keeps his breaths shallow, quick, and soft. Trying to minimize the movement of his lungs. It’s absolutely exhausting.

His eyes, dotted with bruises and cuts, barely manage to get more than half-way open at any given moment.

And all of it is made worse, _so much worse,_ by the brand new set of ropes around his wrists.

Normally, the rope wouldn’t be much of a bother to him. It wasn’t before, even when Gen was talking about how tight the ropes were, they didn’t bother him too much.

But they are now.

Now, his wrists are bleeding.

Now, after struggling to breathe, struggling to keep himself calm enough to breathe, while Homura re-tied his wrists, after the two of them forcing him to _walk_ all the way back to their camp on broken ankles and ribs, after collapsing half-way through the journey, after neither of them bothered to carry him, even with Gen’s attempted support, after being _dragged along the forest floor by his bleeding, red, and raw wrists, _Senkuu really hates the feeling of the rope against his skin.

It may also have something to do with the way Homura left him this time. Though, now, he can see both of them clearly. Close enough to pounce should he try anything. Which he won’t. Which he _can’t._

The other end of the rope is tied to a tree, like before, but this time Homura yanked him to his feet. Which he shouldn’t be standing on anyway, and climbed as high into the tree as the rope would allow before trying the other end around a low-hanging branch. Just high enough to force Senkuu to stay upright. Just high enough to put _that much more pressure _on everywhere that hurts.

He wants to go home.

_I want to go home._

_I should have just let him say it, huh._

His eyes press closed.

_I should have let him say it._

Everything hurts.

_I want to go home._

“Senkuu-chan.”

It’s Gen.

He looks at the mentalist, and the look in his eyes is so hard to see. He can barely see anyway, vision blurry with some mix of blood, pain, and just lack of rest.

“Senkuu-chan… Senkuu-chan…” He hears his name slipping past Gen’s lips again, and again, and again. He keeps saying it. Over and over and over again, and he doesn’t want to hear it anymore. He groans, muffled by the fabric between his teeth, and starts to shake his head. It hurts, it hurts his head and his neck and his shoulders but he shakes his head, over and over and over again.

_I gave up, already. I’m not gonna fight back anymore. They gave up on me. They aren’t coming for me. I get it. I _ ** _get it._ **

“Senkuu-chan…”

He feels Gen’s fingers on his cheek. Then he feels Gen’s whole palm on his cheek.

He furrows his brow, and his body tenses, and he waits for the hit that’s going to come next. He waits for Hyouga to come up behind him, maybe, and stab him in the back this time. He waits for the next loud snapping noise that comes from his own body. He waits for the pain.

“Senkuu-chan…

…it’s just me.”

_I know._

Another hand finds itself on Senkuu’s other cheek. He hates it. He feels so _trapped._ He’s already trapped, but now, with his whole face under another’s fingers, he hates it.

He waits for Gen’s fingers to press in.

He waits for the pressure on his neck.

“…darling.”

Gen’s voice is quiet, soft, _pained._

“…it’s just me. Only me.”

_I _ ** _know._ **

A moment passes.

“I’ll be back.”

His head manages to lift, enough to stare into Gen’s eyes straight-on.

_Wait._

He wants to shake his head. He doesn’t want Gen to leave. He doesn’t want him to go. He doesn’t want to be alone here. He doesn’t want to be alone with Homura and Hyouga and he doesn’t want Gen to leave.

“I won’t be long.” Gen’s thumb runs under Senkuu’s eye, and it’s only then that he realizes that there were tears leaking from his eyes. “I promise.”

“And, by the time I see you again, we’ll be safe.”

_Safe._

He stares at Gen, blank and tired and unmoving.

_He wishes he could believe that._

_________________________________

“Senkuu.”

He supposes that, under enough stress, in enough pain, it’s possible for the brain to craft images of things that aren’t really there. Things that the brain may truly, desperately, _want_ to be there, but just cannot be there.

Hyouga and Homura have, apparently, elected not to move him today. Perhaps he should be grateful for that. Perhaps they simply don’t want to go to the trouble of dragging him, or carrying him. Perhaps they felt that, after a night like that, a few extra hours of ‘rest’ is earned.

His eyes are closed when he hears the voice. Soft, kind, but not like the one he’s been hearing. There’s nothing but overwhelming concern, maybe a hint of anger, in that tone, and Senkuu knows that this voice can’t be real.

“Senkuu..” The voice says his name again, though this time he can hear a touch of doubt to it. As if it is starting to believe that he won’t, _can’t_, respond to it.

“Senkuu..?” The voice says his name just one more time, hand moving forward slowly. Senkuu doesn’t even know that its hand is moving until it comes to rest on his cheek, and his first response is to hiss in pain at the unexpected touch.

But the fingers, lean and powerful and yet so _gentle,_ don’t leave his cheek. And Senkuu can’t help himself. He can’t help himself when he leans into the touch. He can’t help that his eyes, battered and bruised and oh so _tired_, open just enough for his crimson to meet Kohaku’s blue.

_Oh._

_I guess I’m dreaming._

“Senkuu..!” Her eyes fill with relief, and he thinks she was worried by his unresponsiveness. If illusions are even capable of feeling worried.

His eyes dart left, to where Hyouga and Homura had managed to settle down the night before. Neither of them are there, to his mild surprise, and his eyes return to the illusion of Kohaku.

“They left.” Her voice is quiet, as if trying to keep her presence a secret between them. “Suika lured them off, and Kinrou and Magma are going to keep them occupied for as long as possible.”

_Suika..? Magma and Kinrou..?_

He has to question, on the off-chance that this is actually real, how long has he _actually _been standing here, in a pain-filled daze, for all of them to manage to get here.

“We’re getting you out of here, now.” Her expression hardens, just enough to showcase her determination, maybe even her anger, as she pulls her stone knife from its place on her back. The sight of such a tool has Senkuu flinching on its own, pressing his eyes closed and forcing him to suck his breath in around the wad of fabric in his mouth.

“Senkuu,” He knows that she noticed, even if she isn’t real, she noticed. “I have to cut you free.”

He nods, just once, just enough to convey a message without sending too much additional burning through the rest of his body. His shoulders scream with the movement of his neck, and he has to think that he really has been here much longer than he had thought, if his shoulders are already displaced enough to be _this_ sore.

“Do you want me to..” She doesn’t finish the question before her hand is moving towards his mouth. He blinks, eyes darting between her fingers. He blinks again.

_Oh. She’s going to pull the gag out._

He hates that it took him longer than a second to realize that.

He nods again, one jerking motion and her fingers pull the fabric right from between his teeth. He feels himself gasping, sucking his breath in, pushing it back out.

In. Out. In. Out. Breathe. Breathe. _Breathe._

Even with his eyes closed, even as he focuses completely on the repeated pattern of pulling air into his lungs, no matter how much it _hurts_, he knows that Kohaku is staring at him. And now, now that she’s managed to remove the fabric from his mouth, he’s convinced that she’s really there.

“Senkuu, I’m going to cut you free.” She says the words and her hands move up. He feels her gripping his wrists, gentle and careful and considerate, but that doesn’t stop his teeth from pressing themselves together and a hiss coming from his vocal chords. He’s certain that her eyes soften when she hears his reaction, but she doesn’t stop. Both of them know that, even if it hurts, it will be so much better once she cuts him free.

He hears the snapping of the rope above his head as her stone knife cuts right through it. His hands fall away from each other, and his body slumps forward. He doesn’t even bother trying to catch himself. He falls right into a pair of feminine, slim, strong arms. He breathes a tight, sudden breath and squeezes his eyes closed.

It hurts.

It hurts it hurts it _hurts._

“I’ll get you back to the village, Senkuu. It won’t be long.”

“How…” His own voice is so strained and quiet and sore. He really needs a drink of water. “How long’s… it been..?”

“Since..?” Kohaku blinks, he can’t even see it but he knows that it’s happened. He’s grateful that the one saving him, the first to see him like this, is someone who he knows well enough that nothing she does will surprise him. “Ah. About… five days, I think. Late last night, Gen went running through the forest in a panic. We had already been tailing you, thanks to Suika, and we came as fast as we could.” Her voice stays soft and soothing and he can feel her shifting him, gently and slowly, so she can lift him all the way into her arms. “…Senkuu, I’m sorry we took so long.”

_So it’s been two days since then. I’ve been tied here for two days? Did they move me while I was asleep? Not that it matters. It doesn’t matter. My shoulders hurt. Everything hurts._

Kohaku starts moving beneath him, cradling him in her arms so gently that he could swear that he’s floating on air. His head finds purchase in the crook of her neck and his eyes stay closed. Breathing is hard, it’s hard and it hurts, but Senkuu thinks it’s easier now that the only person touching him is someone that he trusts.

_______________________________

“Senkuu-chan..!”

He knows that they aren’t back at the village yet by the time he hears that voice, but he could swear that his entire body goes completely limp the moment he hears it. A deep breath escapes from his lips and his eyes pull themselves open. His head shifts, not by much, but his head shifts against Kohaku’s shoulder. His eyes find the dash of bright purple among the deep green of the trees, and he doesn’t know what to do.

Part of him wants to huff something along the lines of _in your face._ Or maybe he wants to reach out for him. Or maybe he just wants to close his eyes and go to sleep against Kohaku’s shoulder. Arms crossed over his chest in what he thinks is his body’s attempt at a defensive pose. He can’t be sure. He’s never been in a situation like this before. That should be the most obvious thing in the world to even a casual observer.

“Gen, we can deal with his injuries later.” Kohaku’s words are clean, unfeeling, simple. He’s sure she’s simply suppressing anger. The fact that one of his hands is gripping the right strap of her dress in a way that only those who aren’t confident in their safety do is something that she’s clearly taken into account. He thinks that she’s adjusting her tone so she won’t scare him. “For now, I think our priority is getting out of here before they realize that he’s gone.”

Senkuu sees Gen nod.

“K…K…Ko…Kohaku…” He manages to get her name through his teeth. Soft, hardly even a whisper. “Ko…haku…”

Both of them freeze. He can feel Kohaku’s arms tensing underneath him, and he can see Gen’s eyes soften with what he _thinks _is relief. He pulls on what he has of her dress. Lightly, softly. Just enough to grab her attention. Just enough to make it clear that he did, in fact, speak.

“Yes, it’s me, Senkuu.” He can feel her beginning to lower herself, as if she’s going to set him down, and he shakes his head. He doesn’t want that.

_Don’t put me down, don’t put me down._

He grips her dress harder. Not that he has much of any strength left in his hands, anyway. Trying to convey that he absolutely does _not_ want to touch the forest floor. And she stops.

“Senkuu, do you want me to put you down?” She pauses to ask. The moment they shift to look at him, her eyes soften and her lips morph into some attempt at a soft, kind smile.

He shakes his head, just once. Just enough to say no. And she lifts him back up.

“But you do need something, right? What do you need?”

  
He opens his mouth, about to say it, about to ask the girl holding him, who he trusts more than most of the people he can think of, for the one thing he thinks can make his throat stop _aching._

“Water?” Gen beats him to it. “Senkuu-chan, you want water, right?”

He nods, once again, limiting his movement as much as possible.

“Alright. As soon as Suika meets up with us, we’ll have her get some water, okay? I…” Kohaku pauses, just for a moment, and her eyes suddenly turn sad. “I won’t let her see you like this, okay? I know… I know you don’t want anyone to see you like this, right?” He doesn’t bother to nod in response. Kohaku already knows what his answer would be. “And… it would scare her. So… we won’t let her see.”

He thinks that’s a good idea.

“Kohaku-chan–“

  
“Let’s go. We’ll meet up with them along the way.” Kohaku doesn’t let Gen finish his sentence, and Senkuu presses his eyes closed. He hides his face in Kohaku’s shoulder, and the smell of the fabric of her dress is almost as comforting as the feeling of her arms around him. He likes it. He doesn’t want to look at anything right now.

He still has to convince himself that this is really happening.

_Why didn’t they come sooner?_

_Did they not hear the screaming?_

_Were they not close enough to hear?_

_Did they ignore it?_

** _Did they not care enough to help?_ **

He doesn’t want to think those things.

His eyes stay closed.

He wants to rest.

_____________________________________

Senkuu spends most of the trip back to the village in a pain-filled daze.

He knows that, logically, the trip should take much longer than a few hours. He knows that, logically, Kohaku should stop for the night at some point, somewhere along the way, just as she did when the two of them first met. But she doesn’t. Even when she and Gen encounter Kinrou, Magma, and Suika (who quickly has her eyes covered by Kinrou while the two adults stare at Senkuu in some kind of horrified shock), Kohaku simply tells Gen to stay with them while she continues on.

Some part of him, some small part of him, wants to protest, wants to ask that Gen stay with them. Wants Gen to stay within his line of sight, wants to hear Gen’s voice.

But another part of him, he isn’t sure which part is winning, doesn’t want to hear Gen speak for a long while. Another part of him is more than relieved that the only person who can see him, the only person who can touch him, is someone who never has, never will, will never even _think of_ hurting him. Eventually, at some point, he’ll have to work out exactly how to deal with this.

  
But he doesn’t think he can work it out right now.

The sound of Kohaku’s footsteps changes, much too suddenly, and he finds himself blinking his way out of his hiding spot in her shoulder.

When he hears the sound of her shoes slamming against wood, he doesn’t know what to think at first. He didn’t think they would return to the village so fast. But his eyes show him a variety of huts and his ears have him hearing people gathering around them. Muttering, shifting, walking. Kohaku looks down at him.

“Senkuu, where do you want me to take you? Where would you be the most comfortable?” Her voice is soft and concerned and kind, and he finds it interesting just how quickly she manages to shift. The control she has over her voice isn’t quite as impressive as that of the mentalist, but she certainly knows what to do to keep someone calm. “Chrome’s hut? The chief’s hut? My hut?”

_The storehouse, _is the first location that enters his mind. He knows that it will be hard to get him in there, he knows that he’ll be stuck in there unless someone is willing to help him out, but he isn’t sure where else in this village he’ll be able to rest. He’s never slept in any of the other huts. He’s never so much as _entered_ Kohaku’s hut before. He wants something familiar. More than anything else, right now, he wants something familiar.

“Chrome… Chrome’s…”

  
“Okay.” Kohaku’s head jerks up. “Okay, we’ll get you some water as soon as we’re there, okay? We’ll have Ginrou do it while we’re getting you comfortable.”

He doesn’t bother to nod, as much as he wants to. And Kohaku starts running. Her run is smooth, repetitive, easy. It doesn’t feel as though he’s being violently jostled by her every move. He wonders if she’s ever done something like this before.

“CHROME!” Her voice suddenly grows in volume by at least ten levels as the sound of her footsteps shifts yet again to the sound of shoes banging against wood. “CHROME, GET OUT HERE!” Senkuu can’t help the flinch that jars his entire body within Kohaku’s grip. Her voice is so _loud_ and he just wants to _rest _already.

He’s just lucid enough to register the smaller, headband-wearing boy practically diving out of the hut. He’s just lucid enough to hear Kohaku’s instructions for Senkuu to hold on to her. He’s _just _lucid enough, has _just_ enough strength to wrap his arms around her neck while she adjusts her grip to keep him as comfortable as possible while also freeing one hand to allow her to climb the ladder into the hut.

Chrome is fast behind them, and Kohaku stands stock still in the middle of the hut, still holding the injured scientist in her arms, while Chrome scrambles around for blankets and half-formed pillows and soft mats that are tucked away in various corners of the shelves.

“W-What else should I do? W-What do you need?” Chrome’s eyes, voice, and hands are all wild. Shifting all over the place in some combination of clear nerves, desperation, and perhaps even fear.

“Water.” Kohaku doesn’t even give Chrome a moment to stew in the feelings. “Go get water, okay?” She steps forward, trying to line herself up with the make-shift bed that has been set up on the wooden floor. He doesn’t see Chrome nod, but he can hear the amateur scientist padding across the floor and manages to catch him starting his climb down the ladder.

“Senkuu, I’m going to put you down, okay?” Kohaku’s voice is gentle again. Soft, kind, considerate, caring. “Do you want me to put you down?”

“Y-Yeah. Yeah.” He mumbles, quiet enough to minimize the pain in his throat. Most things have been reduced to a dull throbbing. Maybe he’s too tired to feel all the pain everywhere else. Maybe he’s just felt too much. Maybe his body just doesn’t want to deal with it at the moment.

“Okay, okay.” Kohaku is careful and gentle as she lowers herself into a kneeling position. He releases his grip on her neck to allow her to set him down on the wood as gently as possible. It doesn’t stop the hiss of pain that comes from so many sites that set themselves _ablaze_ as soon as he’s pressed against a surface again, but it’s manageable. “Chrome is getting water. What do you need from me?”

He wants to hold up a hand, signal her to wait. He doesn’t want to talk. His throat is too raw, making noise hurts too much. Even soft noises hurt _so much._ So he keeps his mouth shut and manages to hold up one finger.

“Alright.” She nods. “I won’t leave, okay? All night, as long as you need, I won’t leave.”

He exhales, a small, short exhale that has his head pressing against the make-shift pillow and his body relaxing into the floorboards. His hand, left hand, drops off of his torso and onto the floor beside him. He thinks, if his hand isn’t playing tricks on him, that it’s still bleeding. He thinks a lot of things are still bleeding.

He can hear a small gasp, a sharp, surprised inhale and his eyes snap right open, darting to Kohaku.

Her eyes are only focused on his hand.

“B-Bandages. I’ll get–“ She jumps to her feet, scrambling around the storehouse, searching the shelves for her sudden declaration. It’s probably better that she realized it on her own. He didn’t want to have to say it.

Her fingers are on his hand before he’s prepared himself for it, and he can’t help the violent flinch that jumps through his body at the unexpected touch. He can feel Kohaku absolutely _freeze. _And they sit there like that, Senkuu’s hand, injured and shaking and _hurting,_ just sitting between Kohaku’s fingers.

“Sorry.” She mutters an apology, and Senkuu thinks she’s nervous. Senkuu thinks he made her nervous. He closes his eyes and tenses his shoulders. Preparing himself.

_It’s okay. It’s just Kohaku. It’s okay._

_It’s just Kohaku._

_It’s just Kohaku._

_She’s not going to hurt me._

_Just Kohaku._

Her fingers are gentle as they glide across his hand, dragging a roll of bandages around his palm. It hurts, at first, but at this point everything hurts and he’s prepared this time, so now the only thing that even slightly shows his pain is the scrunching of his eyebrows and the tensing of his muscles.

“Senkuu…” Her voice is soft, as if trying her absolute hardest not to scare him. “Senkuu… what did that _bastard…_” He can hear her gritting her teeth between her words. “What did he _do??_”

“I’m back..!” He hears the telltale sound of Chrome’s crashing footsteps as his feet slam into the wooden floor of the storehouse. He nearly jumps right into the air at the sudden noise, and he can see Kohaku glaring at the younger scientist. “Sorry, I… I got water…!” He rushes forward, large earthen jar clenched in his hands. “I… how..?”

“Senkuu, I’m going to prop you up.” Kohaku takes initiative. “If that’s okay?” A moment passes. “Blink if you want me to lift you up, alright? It must hurt to move your head…”

He blinks, looking right into her eyes, and suddenly he’s so grateful for her. As her hand, small and feminine and powerful, yet as gentle as the pillow itself, slips under his head, he closes his eyes and lets himself relax just enough that the muscles in his neck don’t scream _quite_ as loud when she moves him. He can feel the jar coming to his lips. Chrome holds it above his chest, not letting the weight rest on any part of his body, and he thinks that Kohaku is the one who told him to do that. Not that it matters. There’s water at the edge, there’s water touching his lips, and he opens his mouth. He opens his mouth and he drinks.

And it feels _so good._

After a few seconds, Chrome pulls the water from his lips. Senkuu knows that it isn’t malicious. He knows that Chrome just wants to make sure he breathes. But his arm, his right arm, jumps up to cover his mouth so fast that he feels Chrome jumping back. He thinks, somewhere, he thinks that his body thinks that they’re going to stuff another gag in his mouth. So he pants, huffs, gasps through his own hand.

“Senkuu, do you want some more..?” Chrome’s voice is soft, but for an entirely different reason than Kohaku’s is soft. He can tell. The tone is completely different. Weak. Sheepish. Afraid.

_He’s scared._

_Seeing me like this scares him._

_Of course it does._

“Y..yeah…” He manages to actually get the word past his lips, shifting to remove his hand from his mouth with a shaking lack of confidence. “…yeah… yeah…”

The jar comes back to his mouth. And he keeps drinking.

_______________________________________

The jar is empty after not too long. Senkuu is gasping for air, again, but it’s not out of desperation anymore. It’s not painful or angry or anything in-between. Even if his ribs _ache_ with every breath, his hands aren’t pinned, tied, above him and he knows, anytime he wants the two hovering above him to leave, all he has to do is say the word.

Now, with her hand in his hair, he’s pretty sure Kohaku is trying to help him fall asleep.

He doesn’t really think it’s going to work. As far as he knows, the only thing that’s gotten him to sleep in the last two days is passing out from pain, and he doesn’t particularly _want_ to sleep anyway, but the presence of an undeniably comforting hand in his hair is more than a little reassuring at the moment. Even with his eyes closed, he knows Chrome hasn’t moved a single inch either.

“Senkuu, do you… do you need anything else..? Do you.. want anything else..?” Chrome’s voice is nervous, shaky, and Senkuu would much rather not hear him speak like that.

“…fine. ‘M fine.” He mutters, right hand moving up to wave Chrome away. “…just tired. ‘M just… tired.”

“Do you want me to leave..?” Chrome whispers. He can tell, somehow, he isn’t really sure, that Chrome is the one who wants to leave. Chrome doesn’t want to see him like this, and, to be honest, he doesn’t want Chrome to see him like this either.

So he nods.

“…yeah… yeah… go…” He keeps waving his hand, weak and almost limp. “Go.. go rest…”

Chrome nods. His eyes dart to Kohaku, just for a moment, before he shifts and Senkuu can hear his footsteps across the wooden floor.

“Do you want me to leave too, Senkuu?” Kohaku’s voice comes next. He has to wonder what it is that has her so calm.

“No.” The word jumps from his mouth before he can even think to respond. “..no.” He says it again. Kohaku is calm. Kohaku is strong. He doesn’t have to listen to her voice shake and think about just how _long_ it’s going to be before he’s back to normal.

“Alright. I won’t leave.” Her hand carefully pushes his hair from his face, and he breathes in. “I won’t leave.”

He doesn’t want to be alone.

__________________________________

“Senkuu-chan..!”

He takes a sharp inhale as soon as the voice reaches his ears. And he doesn’t know what to do. He feels his muscles tensing, and he hates that he feels his entire body tense the moment a voice so _soft _and _familiar_ and _kind_ enters his ears. He hates that, for the first minute after he hears it, he holds his breath and _waits_ for something to hit.

“Senkuu..?”

“F-Fine.” He chokes the word past his tongue and squeezes his eyes closed. He can hear the telltale soft footsteps of Gen Asagiri padding across the floor and his own right hand moves to cover his mouth. He hates it. He hates that he can’t help it. He hates it. He hates it he hates it he _hates it._

“Senkuu-chan…” Gen’s voice is tired. Tired and quiet and… and…

Senkuu can’t think of the word.

“It’s… it’s… Senkuu-chan it’s…” He really never thought he would be in a situation where _both_ he and the mentalist have no idea what to say. “…we’re safe.” Is what Gen ultimately ends on, and Senkuu really has no idea what to do with that.

He can feel Kohaku’s hand leaving his hair, and his eyes drift up to meet with hers.

  
“Senkuu, I’ll be right outside, alright? If you need anything, if you want me to come back, just call for me, alright?”

He doesn’t nod. He can’t decide, yet, if he really wants her to leave. But he doesn’t say anything as she stands and moves towards the door. He doesn’t say anything as she climbs down the ladder. Maybe it’s because of what she said. Maybe it’s because he thinks she deserves a break. Maybe it’s because he wants to be alone with Gen. He doesn’t know.

“Senkuu-chan…” Gen’s voice doesn’t pick up again until Kohaku is gone. He can hear Gen inching closer, sliding along the floorboards, and he can’t open his mouth, still covered by his right hand. He can’t bring himself to so much as part his lips, even as Gen looks at him with such _honest_ eyes.

“Senkuu-chan..?” Delicate, effeminate, soft fingers glide over his cheek. Gentle. Careful. He wants to lean into the touch. He really does. But something holds him back. Something stops him. Something has him staring straight up and into those blue-gray irises. “…hey.” Gen’s palm, gentle and soft, draws itself across Senkuu’s forehead and, this time, he leans into it. This time, he exhales softly and closes his eyes, but his hand doesn’t leave his mouth. “It’s just me, Senkuu-chan. It’s just me.”

_I know._

There are fingers tracing the lines on his right wrist, and he jerks his hand away so fast that he sends a shock of pain through his chest and lets out a short, small cry, and Gen’s face is in a panic.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Gen repeats the phrase a few more times, “I didn’t mean to, Senkuu-chan, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“..fine. ‘M fine. ’S fine.” He whispers, lips pressed as tightly closed as he can manage while still being able to talk. Gen’s fingers don’t come back to his skin and he looks up again, searching for Gen’s eyes.

They aren’t looking at him.

“Senkuu-chan… Senkuu-chan… S…Senkuu-chan…” Gen’s eyes press closed and Senkuu wants nothing more than to reach up, reach up and press his own fingers to Gen’s cheek. But his left hand is wrapped in thick bandages and it _hurts_ to move it, and his right hand is over his mouth. “…Senkuu-chan…” The mentalist inhales deeply. “I… I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry… Senkuu-chan… I’m… so sorry…” He can hear Gen choking on his own words. It’s not something he’s used to hearing, it’s not something he ever thought he would hear, and, staring right up into Gen’s eyes,

He never thought he would see the mentalist cry.

He never thought he would feel small drops of water from the mentalist’s eyes falling onto his skin and dropping into his clothes.

“…Gen.”

“Senkuu-chan… I… I’m…” Gen scrambles to cover his eyes with his hands as Senkuu stares at him with wide eyes. “Senkuu-chan… I…”

His right hand leaves his mouth. He keeps his lips pressed tight, but he lifts his right hand as much as his aching and screaming shoulders will allow. He raises his hand, and it’s barely a second before it’s wrapped up in Gen’s far softer fingers. He feels Gen pressing Senkuu’s fingers to his cheek. He can feel the soft edges of the petrification scar under his eye. He can feel Gen crying. He can feel his tears on the palm of his hand and he wants to wipe them away. He wants to sit up. He wants to wipe them away.

“…Gen. I… I need…” He sucks in his breath through clenched teeth. “Help me… I wanna… sit up…”

“Sit… Senkuu-chan, you need to rest… You shouldn’t… You should stay still.”

He shakes his head. “..want to sit up. I want… to sit up.” He pants, hands struggling to find comfortable purchase on the wooden floor. Muscles fighting to push his torso off the ground as Gen scrambles to help him. He feels the mentalist cupping the back of his neck, and he has to press his eyes closed and hold his breath to stop himself from flinching away. He asked for the help, after all, pushing Gen off would just make this so much worse.

“Senkuu-chan, be careful. Please, at least move slow? Let’s lean you against the wall, okay? Take deep breaths. Don’t hold your breath, even if it hurts, don’t hold your breath.” He feels Gen moving things aside, trying to balance Senkuu’s weight in one hand and clear a path for him in the other. It isn’t far from his spot on the floor to the wall, but dragging his currently useless legs across the wooden floor might rank among the top 20 hardest things he’s ever had to do.

Of course, number one stays the same. He doesn’t think number one will ever be topped, no matter what anyone or anything manages to do to him. He isn’t sure anything could ever beat the 3,700 years of pure, uncomforting solitude where all he could do was _count_.

He isn’t sure that the new number two will be topped anytime soon, either. Having to _walk_ through the forest on what he’s now _certain_ is two broken ankles, one broken tibia, and one broken fibula, collapsing half-way through the walk and then, when those who felt the need to force him to walk _anyway_, don’t bother to even take a pause.

He can still _feel_ the _crunching_ in his ankles, and he sucks a deep breath into his lungs from the thought.

  
“S-Senkuu-chan? Are you alright? D-Do you need anything?” One of Gen’s hands, the one that was on his neck, moves to the back of his left shoulder. “Here, you’re almost there. Okay? Almost there. Just another foot, okay? Just one more foot.”

Once his back hits the wall, Senkuu takes another sharp inhale. He can feel something soft against his lower back, and Gen is coaxing him a bit forward so he can put another something soft behind his upper back and, eventually his head. It feels so much better, once the surface is soft, and he’s grateful that Gen thought of it.

“Alright, alright. Try not to move, okay? Try…”

“…Gen.”

“…Senkuu-chan..?” Their eyes meet, and Senkuu breathes a deep sigh. “Senkuu-chan, what–“

“..wait.” He holds up one finger, still huffing through his air supply. “Wait. Just… one second… one…”

“Okay.” Gen’s hands find Senkuu’s, just his right. Gen doesn’t dare touch his left hand with the huge wad of bandages keeping the bleeding under control.

“Sorry. Sorry, it–“ He sucks his breath in. “Trying… tryin’ to breathe. Trying.”

“It’s alright. Focus on that. Focus on… focus on breathing.” Gen’s fingers turn Senkuu’s hand over, palm sitting open in the mentalist’s hand. “…just breathe.”

“I…I’m trying..” He closes his eyes, leaning the top of his head against the wall. “I’m trying, it’s… it’s hard. My ribs… are broken, I’m pretty sure.” He sucks in as much air as he can. “Didn’t… I didn’t get the chance to tell anyone yet… Kohaku wanted… she wanted me to sleep.” He nods to himself. “So, I was trying to test it out…”

“Test–“

“Yeah.” He jumps in before Gen can even finish the question. “We need to know… how to deal with it, right? We gotta… be able to set them and…”

“Senkuu-chan…”

“So.. from what I.. c-can tell… both ankles are broken. And, at the very least, my left tibia is definitely broken. M-My… right let feels like my fibula is broken, but… th-that one’s kind of hard to tell…”

“Senkuu-chan.”

He sucks in another breath. “Definitely at least two broken ribs, maybe three, he… he liked doing that. You were there, you know…” He presses his eyes closed.

“Senkuu-chan..!”

“Some stab wounds too,” His left hand moves, pointing out various places on his torso. “Kohaku already wrapped those, though, she saw… she saw the blood and freaked out..”

“Senkuu-chan!”

He jolts his head forward, eyes meeting Gen’s.

“Senkuu-chan… just…” The mentalist looks so _distraught_ and it’s not a good look on him. Senkuu wants to tell him that, but the words don’t come to him. “…just…”

  
“…sorry.” He mutters. “…logically, it just makes sense to have them all… figured out… so w-we can…” He grunts at the sudden wave of pain. “..d-deal with them…”

“…I know. I know.” Gen’s hands are still around his right, fingers gliding across the lines on Senkuu’s palm. “I know that. Just… just…” Gen’s face scrunches into one that Senkuu struggles to read more than he normally does. “…I…”

“…Gen.”

“…I’m sorry.” His whispers, and Senkuu’s knuckles are pressed against his forehead. Gen almost looks like he’s praying, with Senkuu’s fingers clenched between his and his hands pressed together around them. “I’m sorry… that… I’m sorry.”

“Gen... th-this… this isn’t your fault… you know.. th-that, right..? It… it’s Hyouga’s. Don’t… d-don’t blame yourself…”

“…I know. I know.” There’s a pause. “…all I could do was talk, you know. That was it. Hyouga-chan… told me to talk. I… think he had me figured out, you see, but…” He frowned. “I… thought he may kill me, or you, if I had refused.”

“…I know. I… know.” He glances down, to his own hand, still having its lines traced by Gen’s gentle fingers. “…I’d rather that… th-than… well I’d rather not be d-dead so…”

A soft, bordering on sad, chuckle escapes Gen’s lungs and it brings a smile to Senkuu’s lips. “I… I suppose that’s fair.” Gen’s lips pull themselves downwards. “…Senkuu-chan..?”

“Hm..?”

“…you… when I went… to find Kohaku-chan and Suika-chan and Kinrou-chan and Magma-chan…” Senkuu thinks he only listed their names to delay whatever the next thing he’s going to say is. “…you… you kept pulling away from me… and you…”

“..Gen.”

“You looked so _afraid.”_

He freezes. He feels himself freeze.

“You looked so _afraid_, Senkuu-chan. And… and… you… you looked like you thought I was…”

“..Gen..”

“…I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Senkuu-chan. I… I’m sorry… I couldn’t… It was _my _idea, and…”

“_Gen._”

The mentalist’s head jerks up and their eyes meet once again.

“It’s okay.” Senkuu pushes the words out and forces his lips into a smile. “…it’s okay. You… we were desperate. Right? And the others… ended up having enough time to get to us… right? So… I’m not dead right now. Y’know Tsukasa would’ve killed me right away.”

Gen nods.

“A-And… here I am, right? Alive, and all that… so… It’s the better of two scenarios, right?”

The mentalist pauses, just for a moment. “…yes, I suppose… I would rather you be alive.”

A short, breathy chuckle gets past his lips.

“A-Anyway… uh… a-anyway… um…”

“Yes, Senkuu-chan?”

“You… well… you were going to say something. And… I know we’re not under a tree or anything… well that’s cause I can’t really move. But…” His eyes move to the floor. “…I dunno if I can hold my curiosity off much longer~”

Gen blinks, pauses. A moment of silence passes between the two of them, staring right into each other’s eyes, before Gen’s expression erupts into a smile. He likes that. He likes seeing that look in Gen’s eyes and that expression on his lips. It makes his chest feels warm. Not in the way that the pain does. It makes him feel _warm._

“Senkuu-chan.” Gen leans forward, just a bit. “I love you.”

A smirk crosses Senkuu’s lips.

“Knew it.”

“You did not!”

“Oh, I totally knew it. Right from the start.”

“Hmph.” Gen’s cheeks puff out and Senkuu’s chest starts heaving. He thinks it’s from an attempt at laughter, but really he’s trying to get a breath into his lungs without too much pain at the moment. “Ah–“

“Fine. ‘M fine.” He leans his head back, coughs beginning to rack his body as he struggles to stay still. “’S fine. ’S fine.”

“S-Senkuu-chan..”

“I’m fine.” He inhales deeply through his nose. “See? I’m fine.”

“…okay.”

“Anyway~.” He tries to coo, but it sends shots of pain through his entire torso and he instantly regrets it. “A-Anyway,” He looks right into Gen’s eyes with a soft smile. He flips his right hand over, still within Gen’s grip, and smiles.

“I love you too, Gen.”

The smile that comes over the mentalist’s face is enough that, for a moment, Senkuu completely forgets every single thing that hurts in his entire body. There’s a moment where the two of them just sit there, smiling and staring, with hands intertwined.

“Senkuu-chan–“

“Yeah, yeah you can.” He doesn’t even let Gen finish the question. He doesn’t need to. The look in the mentalist’s eyes is all that he needs to know exactly what he wants. “Just be careful.”

Gen’s eyes light up all over again and he leans forward, propping himself up against the wall to avoid touching any part of Senkuu’s battered and bruised body.

But, when he feels Gen’s lips pressed against his own, when he feels Gen’s hands cupping his cheeks, when he feels Gen’s fingers running through the base of his hair, nothing else matters. More than anything, when he shifts, when Gen sits right next to him, their hands weaving themselves together in Gen’s lap, when Senkuu leans his head onto Gen’s shoulder, he feels nothing but safety.

He feels nothing but warmth.

And he’s really, truly, happy.


End file.
